On Tuesday, President Asif Ali Zardari emphasized the importance of ensuring fair wheat prices, making timely interventions, and streamlining the procurement process to safeguard farmers’ interests.
He stressed the necessity of supporting and encouraging farmers to boost wheat production in the country.
President Zardari expressed concern that farmers were not receiving fair prices for their wheat and faced difficulties obtaining wheat procurement bags (Bar Dana).
These views were shared during a meeting to discuss wheat procurement issues in the country, attended by Minister for National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) Rana Tanveer Hussain, and senior officials from the Ministry of NFS&R and PASSCO, according to a statement from the President Secretariat Press Wing.
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During the meeting, the president was briefed on the challenges farmers face with wheat procurement and the distribution of ‘bar dana.’
President Zardari highlighted that nearly 65% of the country’s population lives in rural areas and that providing adequate wheat prices to farmers would strengthen the rural economy.
He underscored the importance of maintaining strategic food reserves to ensure food security and meet future food demands, suggesting that soft loans be offered to the private sector to build silos and modern wheat storage facilities to accommodate the growing population’s needs.
The president emphasized the need for reliable crop data to make timely policy interventions and accurately forecast the country’s future food requirements. He also recommended deregulating the agriculture sector.
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